Paladins In Arms
by EerieEyes
Summary: Having nothing to do, and no one to hang out with on their day off, Lance decides to pay Keith a visit in the training deck as he spares off against the Gladiator. Secret Santa Gift for my good friend Jacey!


Protruding a loud yawn, Lance drowsily walked his way out of the kitchen with freshly brewed warm coffee in hand. Actually it wasn't "coffee" to be precise and any coffee connoisseur could tell you otherwise. Despite the looks and smell of it being similar, apparently it is called a "Ryunit" that is, according to Coran, a very popular drink to the Alteans that is rare to obtain so only those who are rich enough could be able to get their hands on it. Lance made the mistake in asking him why that was the case and had to put up to listening to one of Coran's trivial spiels that only a ryunit fanatic would be interested in. Of course Lance zoned out during the entire time but it made Coran happy that see that someone was "listening" to him.

Speaking of said alien, Lance began to ponder what he should do for today. After all Princess Allura and Coran had gone out to meet with the local aliens to do some political business so he and the rest of the gang had a day off to themselves.

He had hoped to do something with Pidge and Hunk-maybe spend some quality time-but Pidge took the opportunity to lock herself away in her "laboratory" and had asked Hunk for his assistance. They both promised that they'll go do something fun with him later but Lance doubted that it would happen anytime soon. Then there was Shiro who might have kept him entertained if he hadn't already taken off at the crack of dawn with his lion to further strengthen their "bond". Which means that the only other person available was Mullet Head who was more than likely hitting the training decks.

Lance gagged at the idea of hanging out with his rival and he is sure Keith would feel the same way. Allura and Coran have done all that they could-from trust building exercises to lectures to therapy sessions-trying to make them like one another but only to no avail. When that didn't work Shiro stepped in-basically telling them that while he would like to see them get along one day, they should be able to rely on one another when a situation arises. Yet, despite Shiro's words of wisdom ringing true, neither or have really extended a hand out to build up to that level of trust. It wasn't that they were opposed to the idea or anything, it just that they really don't know where to start. True they have come a long ways since becoming Paladins but they were far from being actual functioning teammates.

As Lance drew near to the training room, he heard weapons clinking together and barely audible grunts coming nearby. At first Lance was hesitant to go inside. After all, what business does he have to see Keith work out? It probably reeks of sweat and body odor in there anyways. But his curiosity and boredom won over and urged him to finally go inside. While he did feel a bit intrusive just waltzing in the room initially, Keith seemed too preoccupied to notice him to really protest. Eventually, Lance found a comfy spot off of the sidelines to sit and watch the battle go on as he sipped from his warm cup now and again.

The Gladiator spun its metal pipe around to and fro to try to land a hit; however, Keith was able to block the machine's swings with his blade and would then try to counterattack. As the battle raged on, Lance had to begrudgingly admit that Keith is a surprisingly good fighter and may be the second best out of their team in that regard. Nevertheless, it was still apparent that he was far from being a black-belt level master. Right now the two combatants are locked into a boring game of switching between offense or defense with neither one overpowering over the other. It was getting pretty dull with its predictability. While he did, and continues to, cheer on for the training dummy to win, and give Keith a good old ass-whooping, now he doesn't care who will win in the end. All he wants is for something exciting to happen.

It didn't take long for his prayers to be answered when Keith made a blunder predicting where the Gladiator was going to strike. He had left an opening on his left hand side which allowed the machine to kick him squarely on the rib cage. The power behind the kick sent Keith flying in the air-coming down to the ground with a loud _thud_ -and sliding across the floor that it even made Lance wince.

"End training sequence" Keith's barely audible command was registered by the robot and it dissolved out of existence.

"Good job out there buddy, just keep it up and one day you'll surpass level II." Lance piped up, deciding now was the perfect opportunity to make his presence know, and gave a slow series of claps.

Keith shot his head up like a bullet, which was a bad idea as he suddenly felt like the whole room began to spin. "Lance," he managed to say, suppressing his dizziness and the urge to throw up, "What are you doing here?"

"Watching that thing kick your butt, what else does it look like I'm doing?"

"Not doing anything productive today." Keith replied back.

"Oh yeah, what makes you think I haven't done anything?" he tried to come off nonchalantly, sounding only slightly offended.

Keith scanned over at the blue nightgown and lion slippers Lance were sporting on. An unimpressed expression dawned on his face, "Trust me, I know you haven't." As he slowly got back on his feet, Keith could feel a major headache was coming onto him. His whole body was aching with pain, especially his sides, though that was nothing compared to the humiliation he was feeling.

"So..." Keith snapped his attention back at Lance, wondering what snarky comment he is about to make, "since you are all done with your training, why don't we go hang out? Maybe play a game of cards or something?"

Keith stared at him blankly, not expecting that offer from Lance of all people. It was so unlike him that Keith immediately got suspicious. "Why not do it with Hunk?" he warily asked.

"He's working with Pidge."

"Shiro?"

"Not here either. He's doing his own thing. And before you ask, Allura and Coran aren't back yet."

Though confused, it was clear to him that Lance was lonely and had wanted to be around someone...as strange as that was. He wasn't sure if he should feel touched or continue to be suspicious.

"Thanks but I have to pass up on your offer."

Lance frowned, following his gaze wherever Keith was going, "Wait so what are you going to do now?"

"What does it look like." He lifted his blade up, momentarily holding it up for Lance to get the picture.

"You serious? Come on, you're being stupid. You are going to get your ass handed down to you if you don't take a break."

Keith opened his mouth to say something but quickly closed it. Instead he gave Lance a withering look before turning around to make his way back to the center of the training field. Lance was momentarily stunned by the sudden attitude change but stuck his tongue out in retaliation.

 _'What's his problem?'_ Lance wondered. All he did was speak out the truth. Pouting, he crisscrossed his arms together and slide down closer to the ground. Any concern he had for his teammate was thrown out the window. Thinking that if Keith wants to be an idiot than, whatever, he can go ahead and do so.

"Begin sequence training, level II!" Keith proclaimed out. As commanded, the combat simulator reactivated and the ceiling opened up a small hole for the Gladiator to drop down. The Gladiator landed gracefully, as if it weighed nothing more than a feather, and, in an instant, began to charge at its opponent.

Keith took a step back, got into position, and swung his blade at the incoming hunk of machine. As if it could see into the future, it somehow had anticipated the attack and pushed itself up in the air just before Keith could land a hit. While in midair, the robot threw its pole down, aiming at Keith's head, only to miss its mark when he rolled forward.

Time past by what was no more than two minutes but felt like an eternity for Keith. He was heaving so heavily that he was sure Lance could hear him struggling for breath. Another attack was successfully avoided as Keith managed to jump out of the way in time. Sweat began to fall down his face-dripping off of his hair, nose, and chin. Although distracting, he had to focus as the robot, once again, was advancing right at him. But this time, instead of swinging towards the upper half of the body, the Gladiator brought its pole down near the ground and successfully knocked Keith off of his feet. The harsh impact suddenly sent Keith flying into a fit of coughs. He tried to get a hold of himself but they were coming out so violently that he couldn't do anything to stop it. Struggling on his current issue, he didn't even notice that the Gladiator's weapon was touching his chest until it was too late.

Lance watched in horror as the training dummy activated a volt of electricity. Keith cry out in pain and squirmed uncontrollably. He could feel a knot twist in his stomach, his nerves clenched up, and the back of his hair stood up. Without even thinking about it Lance pushed himself up off the floor, rushed over to wrap his arms around the Gladiator into a bear hug, and began pulling it away from Keith. Beeping noises erupted from the robot as it struggled to pry Lance off its back.

"Keith! Get up!" he called out even though he was unsure if his teammate was conscious at this point. Thankfully years of wrestling with his siblings and cousins were starting to pay off as he was able to maneuver around and adjust his hold onto the Gladiator. Despite that being the case, he did not know how long this would last as the robot was starting to catch on to his tricks. When it was unable to physically remove Lance the Gladiator started to rotate its whole upper body around and around again, picking up speed as it goes. Lance could feel his fingers were starting to slide off from the metallic surface.

"Keith!" he screeched to the top of his lungs just when he lost his grip and tumbled over four times. Incoming clinking and clanking tipped him off that the Gladiator was approaching and, when he came to, he stared up to see that the robot was standing above him. He tried to scurry away but the robot stomped on his foot, preventing him from escaping. The dummy stared down at him with its one eye and, if it could express itself, it would feel very unhappy with his intervention. Suddenly there was a clash, followed by the sound of a high pierced computer screeching, and something pointy protruded from its chest.

Upon further inspection, he noticed Keith was standing behind the Gladiator and had attacked it from behind. The training dummy made a few more squealing noises before it digitized, leaving the two of them behind.

"You okay?" Keith asked, heaving in between each breath.

"Y-yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Lance responded, eyeing at his teammate who looked like he was about to pass out. Keith gave a nod and than joined Lance on the cold, hard floor. "You know you could have called that thing off, right?" Lance cracked in a joke to try and lighten the mood.

"So could have you" Keith retorted back, giving a small smile.

Lance snorted, smiling along too, "Hey, want to go get something to eat? I'm starving."

"In a minute, just let me lay here for a while."


End file.
